Matthew P. White speaks with defense attorney Bob Schroeter in court.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – Yesterday’s 911 call to a Mossyrock-area home in which a molotov-cocktail type device exploded in a kitchen was about a man threatening to kill himself, according to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.
Matthew P. White’s divorce became final last week and he went there with a gas can and several incendiary devices, but his adult son and the son’s friend wrestled with him and dragged him out of the house, charging documents state.
His ex-wife and son live in the home, but were not there when he arrived.
White, 51, was in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon where he was charged with arson and several other offenses.
Judge Nelson Hunt set his bail at $250,00.
White sported what appeared to be two reddish black eyes-in-the-making as he faced the judge. Defense attorney Bob Schroeter told Judge Hunt White had “zero” criminal history.
Charging documents and the sheriff’s office give the following account:
Lewis County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Tim English was dispatched about 12:25 p.m. to the 100 block of Koons Road about a man threatening to kill himself.
When Deputy English arrived, White was sitting on the ground with four males standing around him.
Twenty-three-year-old Kevin White told the deputy he and his friend Anthony Westmoreland had seen his father’s car on the side of Salmon Creek Road, stopped and reminded him he wasn’t supposed to be in the area or near the house.
The senior White drove off and his son followed.
The son said he watched his father carry a gas can and an incendiary device to the front door then kick in the door and go inside.
The young men followed and once inside, saw White light the device.
Kevin White told the deputy he was roughly eight feet away when his dad threw it at him. Kevin White kicked it away and it exploded causing a fire in the kitchen.
Westmoreland put it out with an extinguisher, and Kevin White wrestled with his father.
Kevin White got a cut on his hand when he grabbed a knife from his father’s pocket.
When the senior White then pulled a two-foot-long knife from the neck of his jacket, Westmoreland punched him, knocking him unconscious.
Kevin White then dragged his father outside.
The fire damage was apparently limited to “possible smoke damage.”
No serious injuries were reported, though the senior White had a cut on his right eye and blood on his head.
Lewis County Fire District 8 was called just after 1 p.m. to conduct a “patient check” at the sheriff’s office request, according to Fire Chief Duran McDaniel.
Deputy English collected three knives from the home that the young men said were taken from White.
English recovered three incendiary devices and four tupperware containers with wicks and gasoline from White’s vehicle.
Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher said the devices were “molotov cocktail types”.
A sheriff’s office spokesperson said she was told they were made with styrofoam and gasoline. White told his son it was “Naplam”; he’d researched it on the Internet.
Also in the vehicle was an ice chest with styrofoam that was used in the mixture of the device, according to charging documents.
White hasn’t lived in the home since October. He is described as a Centralia resident.
On his way to jail, White told Deputy English he had been having thoughts of harming himself as well as killing his wife.
White is charged with first-degree assault of his son, first-degree arson,first-degree burglary and unlawful possession of an incendiary device
His arraignment is tomorrow.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter